IMF slashes Portugal’s growth forecast

7Lisbon, Oct 8 (IANS) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered Portugal’s growth forecast Tuesday to one percent during 2014.

The IMF had estimated in April that the Portuguese economy would grow by 1.2 percent, Xinhua reported.

Exports have driven a turnaround for Portugal in recent times, which outstripped other eurozone members in the fourth quarter last year with a year-on-year growth of 1.6 percent.

However, according to the IMF’s quarterly report on the world economy released Tuesday, Portugal is the only bailed-out country to have its growth prospects marked down by the IMF, facing risks due to an overall downturn in the eurozone economy.

Raising fears that Europe might be on the verge of another eurozone crisis, the report reveals that the growth forecast for the world economy has been revised downward to 3.3 percent for this year, 0.4 percentage points lower than April 2014 World Economic Outlook.

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